One week to go; is your holiday shopping done?

LAS CRUCES — I hope to not be roaming store aisles one week from today, wide-eyed and crazed with last-minute shopping madness.

But it could happen.

If you're like me, you haven't even started your Christmas shopping yet. Sure, gifts for my kids and my parents etc. have been purchased, but the

lion's share of the credit for that belongs to my wife, although I did go along to a few stores.

I'm a journalist and I need a deadline, that's my excuse anyway. Still, with one week to go before Christmas Eve, if you still have presents to purchase, know that you're not alone. The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to a recent CashStar/Harris survey, a quarter of Americans have admitted to being last-minute shoppers.

One in four of us are adrenaline junkies who love the pressure of trying to snare that special gift as the clock ticks down. Or, more likely, we just procrastinate and let Christmas sneak up on us. (Although, how Christmas could "sneak" up on anyone anymore is beyond me what with all the jewelry commercials and holiday songs.)

Sarah Valerio really does wait until the last minute.

"It's a family tradition to start Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve and rush home to wrap all the presents," she said on the Sun-News Facebook page.

Vivian Moore, though, prefers to avoid the rush.

"I shop throughout the year so I am usually done in time for Christmas," she said. "I think my shopping is complete for this year, now it is wrapping, packing and mailing time.

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Bryn Winburn with Family Dollar stores said that the final week before Christmas draws customers for a variety of reasons, not just gift buying.